Summer fun

Arts Council offers visual arts, theatre, opera for students

Las Cruces Bulletin

If you have a child interested in painting, drawing and other visual arts; in performing on stage as an actor and/or singer; or in learning to build sets, make costumes and design sound and lighting systems, the Doña Ana Arts Council (DAAC) has three programs to choose from this summer.

The fun begins with DAAC’s annual Career Art Path visual-arts immersion program, followed by the Missoula Children’s Theatre program and Opera Storytellers summer camp.

Career Art Path

Career Art Path (CAP) will be held 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day, from Monday, June 13, through Friday, June 24, at Alma d’arte Charter High School, 402 W. Court Ave., said DAAC Executive Director Kathleen Albers. There will be a live performance that will be open to the public at 1 p.m. on June 24.

Tuition is $100 per student, and the program is limited to 40 students. Partial scholarships are available based on financial need thanks to long-time financial support for the program from Marian and Jordan Wolle, Albers said. Friday, May 20, is the tentative registration deadline, although it likely will be extended, she said.

A recommendation from the student’s art teacher is required to enroll Albers said. Visit the email below to find a form the art teacher can fill out, along with an application form.

CAP, now in its 30th year, is designed for students who will be entering the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades next school year. It will include “hands on experience in many fields, which may include ceramics, painting, sculpture and print making,” according to a DAAC flyer. In addition to art projects, the two-week program will also feature “field trips … to local galleries, museums and theaters,” according to DAAC’s Facebook page.

Professionals participating in this year’s program will include artists, art teachers, art gallery owners and New Mexico State University Theatre Arts Department Resident Scenic and Lighting Designer Jim Billings.

To register online, visit http://daarts.org/cap-2016/.

Missoula Children’s Theatre

Open auditions for DAAC’s annual Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT) will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Monday, June 27, and must be attended the entire two hours for anyone interested in participating in the program.

MCT will begin June 27 and continue through Saturday, July 2. Hours each day will be 10 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Sixty to 70 children in grades one through 12 will be cast in this year’s production of “The Jungle Book,” Albers said.

The show will have public performances at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 1, and 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 2. It will be rehearsed and performed at Rio Grande Theatre, 211 N. Main St., on the downtown mall.

The cost is $60 per student and $20 for each additional child in the same family, Albers said. Partial scholarships are available based on financial need.

MCT students also will be able to participate in three additional workshops at no charge that will include learning how to apply theatrical makeup and putting on a musical, she said.

The program, which DAAC has brought to Las Cruces for more than 20 years, is staffed by recent theatre arts and musical theatre graduates from across the country. The production includes costumes, scenery, props and makeup.

For more information, visit http://daarts.org/ missoula-2016/ and http:// mctinc.org/.

Opera Storytellers Summer Camp

Albers said she decided to add Opera Storytellers summer camp (OS) to DAAC’s educational programing because she wanted to offer students in the performing arts the equivalent of what CAP offers them in the visual arts.

The camp, expanded for its second year in Las Cruces, is presented by DAAC in partnership with the Santa Fe Opera. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30

SEE CAMPS, PAGE B3

p.m. on weekdays from Monday, July 11, through Friday, July 22.

Along with NMSU’s Resident Scenic and Lighting Designer Jim Billings; composer John Carlo Pierce, who is the director of opera for the NMSU Department of Music; and NMSU Music Department Concert Choir director and graduate assistant Christa Frederickson will serve as course instructors.

Up to 30 students in grades three through eight will be accepted into this year’s program and will compose, stage and perform their own 20- to 30-minute opera, Albers said. They will even produce the program for the show. Becca Holmesburg will again serve as the opera’s director. It will be performed publicly at 3 p.m. on Friday, July 22.

Tuition is $300 per student, with scholarships available based on financial need. Sunday, July 10, is the registration deadline.

To register online, visit http:// daarts. org/ opera- camp-2016/.

Career Art Path, Missoula Children’s Theatre and Opera Storytellers summer camp are among “the best things we do for our younger generation,” Albers said.

“I really enjoy seeing the transformation that occurs in these students over the course of a week or two, said DAAC Development Coordinator Katy Milligan,” who has oversight of the student programs. “We are very lucky in this community to have art programs like these for our students and I am proud to be associated with these three camps.”

DAAC is seeking sponsors to help underwrite the costs of the three programs and to provide scholarships for students with financial need.

For more information on any of the programs, call DACC at 523-6403 or email development@ daarts.org. Visit www. DAArts.org.